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1891 Argentine Mauser

I'm looking at an 1891 Argentine Mauser. All matching numbers - bolt, receiver ,stock, barrel, etc. Everything is in great shape, except the bore. The description on the tag says "Poor bore." I looked down the bore and it's pretty nasty looking, though the rifling looks strong. It might or might not clean up. At what point, by looking down the bore, is it not worth it?
$225.00.

With strong lands chances are that it will shoot jacketed OK. You might get a better feel for the bore's condition if you could run some solvent on a properly sized patch and jag thru it--may just be powder fouling and closet crud.

You could also ask for a reduction in price for poor bore condition. Go over to Gunbroker and see what the Argies are going for an a guide to value...Good luck!

Good advice. If it wasn't for the bore condition the price would be about right. Try running a patch through it, and then if it looks good enough to take a chance on and you buy it you may be surprised if you fire some jacketed bullets through it and then clean it again.

Sometimes even pitted bores will shoot good. I bought a 1917 Eddystone some years ago on an auction site and when I got the rifle my heart sank. It was as described on the outside(very good) but the "good bore" part was at best a guess on his part. Long story short, I scrubbed the bore good with Sweets Bore cleaner over and over. It took several days to get years of neglect out of the barrel. When I finally got it clean, it was pitted, little fine pitts all in the bore. I decided to take it to the range at least one time before I got rid of it. I kept it several years and it shot well for me with jacketed bullets from 165 to 180 grains. I ended up selling it to a local fellow who wanted it for a Christmas present. james

A salesman ran a dry bore snake down the barrel and, as predicted since it was dry, nothing changed. Great looking rifle otherwise. I'll give it another look, see if I can run a wet patch down the barrel.
After searching around, that price seems to be on the low end, which is great only if it's a good shooter.

I've kicked myself more than once for selling my Argentine Mausers. If I saw one that was all matching and still had rifling in the bore for $225, I'd argue the price and buy it anyway... So little to loose. Resell it for that pretty easily I think if the bore didn't clean up enough for you.

I looked for a good example of a shooter 91 for several years but all the gun shops that I frequented in my little area had mix master versions that were in pretty bad shape and yet they wanted a premium price for them. Gun shows were even worse. james

RCBS dies are always a good choice, especially for a milsurp--if you want to tailor your loads for a specific chamber and boolit it may be that you'll want to go with the Redding bushing neck sizing setup--I've gone from the Lee collet to the Redding dies for my M1917 30-06 with a marked improvement in accuracy.
YMMV...You'll not see much better ammo unless your brass is of superior quality to begin with--Great score btw--I'm jealous!

Enjoy your new Argie!

PS-
There's prolly a heap of copper, powder and carbon fouling that you'll want to remove--I recommend a product called "Sharp shoot-R brushless foaming bore cleaning solvent and also get the applicator spout, sold separately for $1.99--this stuff works great and 1 can is plenty for several milsurp reclamation projects.

That is correct. Lee dies are too long in the body by about .010. I have both and 3 of the 1891s.
All of the 1891 have exactly the same chamber length so I can use one die setting to FL size cases for all 2 rifles.

Originally Posted by Battis

Good info. Thanks.
From what I've read, RCBS dies are the best for this rifle...(?)

That is correct. Lee dies are too long in the body by about .010. I have both and 3 of the 1891s.
All of the 1891 have exactly the same chamber length so I can use one die setting to FL size cases for all 2 rifles.

In past years I've shortened several Lee FL sizers so they size the 7.65 cases correctly for the Argentine. They were made to 7.65 Belgian chamber specs which have upwards of .010 longer headspace than the Argentine 7.65 chambers. Haven't done any in a while because apparently Lee is now making them to fit the Argentine chambers. RCBS dies are correct as are the Lyman dies I have. I also shortened a Redding 30-06 Bushing die so I can NS with bushings the 7.65, 303, 7x57, 7.7 Jap and a couple other similar cases.

There is an old chamber reamer drawing around for a 7.65 Mauser reamer supposedly ordered by Winchester that has a note in the margins that says the 1891 Mauser had .010 longer head space than the 1898/09. I have both rifles and they have the exact same chamber length. Many die peddlers call it the Belgian Mauser or the Belgian and Argentine Mauser.

I have a set of the Lee dies, a set of Pacific dies and a CH trim die and the length of the case body is wrong in all 3.
The Lee dies are about .010 too long, and the Pacific and CH (not made by the current company) dies are too short and they create about .030 excessive clearance at the shoulder datum.

Current Norma brass is about .004 to .005 shorter than my 1891 chambers (3).
Current PPU brass and ammo is about .001 to .003 shorter than than my 1891 chambers.

Originally Posted by Larry Gibson

In past years I've shortened several Lee FL sizers so they size the 7.65 cases correctly for the Argentine. They were made to 7.65 Belgian chamber specs which have upwards of .010 longer headspace than the Argentine 7.65 chambers. Haven't done any in a while because apparently Lee is now making them to fit the Argentine chambers. RCBS dies are correct as are the Lyman dies I have. I also shortened a Redding 30-06 Bushing die so I can NS with bushings the 7.65, 303, 7x57, 7.7 Jap and a couple other similar cases.